The present invention relates to computer networks and, more specifically, to cell fabric hardware acceleration in a computer network.
Ethernet networks are typically employed in local area networks (LANs) that include a plurality of network switches. A number of communication protocols have been developed and continue to evolve to enhance Ethernet network performance for various environments. For example, an enhancement to Ethernet, called data center bridging (DCB), converged enhanced Ethernet (CEE) or data center Ethernet (DCE), supports the convergence of LANs with storage area networks (SANs). Other protocols that can be used in a data center environment in conjunction with Ethernet include, for instance, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), Internet Wide Area Remote direct memory access Protocol (iWARP), Remote direct memory access over Converged Ethernet (RoCE).
Computer networks can be organized as cell fabrics as one alternative to Ethernet. A cell fabric typically uses fixed frame sizes, while Ethernet uses variable sized packets and frames. Formatting differences between network types can result in difficulty establishing efficient communication between a cell fabric and an Ethernet network. Typically, communication between a cell fabric and Ethernet requires higher-level protocol translation which can involve substantial overhead and increased latency.